Dear Audrey.
Audrey Soglin
Executive Director, Illinois Education Association
Springfield, Illinois
Dear Audrey,
When I heard about Professor William Cronon this past week, I was concerned.
“Here we go again,” I said to myself.
An outspoken teacher, a respected historian at a major university, has his emails examined by some right-wing witch hunters. This time it wasn’t some nutty little group in western Michigan. It was the Republican Party.
Although, what’s the difference?
When this same thing happened to me a month ago, I immediately contacted the IEA.
My union.
Following days of silence from you, I commented on this blog and again I contacted my UniServ Director. My UD was surprised. He had forwarded all the information to IEA and IEA legal.
Shortly I received a long email from President Ken Swanson, which I posted here.
Basically he told me that my case was being handled as any other similar case would be handled.
Were there other similar cases? Who knows? You suggested to me that there were other IEA members who faced similar FOIA requests.
You told me that in a phone call, Audrey.
“Was the silence on the part of the IEA leadership a result of differences over the direction our union has chosen to pursue,” I asked?
“Oh, no,” you told me. “We are handling your case in the same way we would handle the case of any teacher.”
I can’t honestly say that was reassuring.
Since that time I have heard nothing from the IEA leadership. Nothing from Ken. And nothing from you, Audrey.
In his column in the NY Times today Paul Krugman makes the point better than I.
Wisconsin’s open records law provides public access to e-mails of government employees, although the law was clearly intended to apply to state officials, not university professors. But there’s a clear chilling effect when scholars know that they may face witch hunts whenever they say things the G.O.P. doesn’t like.
Now, God knows I’m no scholar. I’m just a K-5 art teacher. And I happen to be in a position where these witch hunters can’t really hurt me. But as Paul Krugman points out, that wasn’t their intent. They want to shut people up. Scare them. They hope they can intimidate folks more vulnerable than me.
The lack of IEA public support for an IEA member helped them.
Thank goodness for Professor Cronon. Because of his position, prestige and visibility, he has brought national attention to the witch hunters. Thanks to people like Paul Krugman, who I humbly admit has a few more readers than I do, a national spot light is shining on these weasels.
Should I have expected more from my union? Or from you? Not really. I expected very little. That’s the shame of it.
-Fred
